They say the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. That goes double for SEO. Your SEO campaigns depend greatly upon what you put inside your sites as well as what you put on the front door.
Google looks for websites that benefit the surfer. The site has to have value according to the niche involved. This means that your every page has to be structured properly and offer at its core, something of value to the surfer whether it’s just content or a link to a reference to a resource that is valuable. This is an area that far too many webmasters overlook.
Think of your website as a full-bodied venture. Much like a car or any other appliance that works best when all of its components are truly tested, up to date, and durable. If you have a refrigerator with a busted door, you’ll not have efficiency and the contents will become compromised. The same goes for your website. If your front page is all dazzled up with bells and whistles but inside you’ve got bad grammar or underdeveloped content and even bad internal links, the spiders that crawl your site will find these, report them, and next thing you know your site is at the bottom of the search engine rankings.
This usually happens when webmasters just go for the superficial. They believe just keywords and a pretty index page will do the trick. In some cases, it can but in the long-term, you’re headed for trouble. Google is wise to slap together websites that give out the deception of being professional.
What you need to do to combat this is to make sure you’ve got your SEO game together. This starts with your mindset. If you aren’t going to do a professional job, then hire someone who can. It’s better to have it done right the first time to avoid an across the board ban or penalty from Google. If you get a ban or penalty from Google and it’s associated with your business, you may never recover.
The first step you should take is always prevention. Make sure whoever is in charge of developing your website and SEO campaigns is thoroughly knowledgeable regarding the procedures and protocols of such. If not, it could end up in them using tactics and technologies that will inevitably get you into some very expensive trouble. Honesty, knowledge, and ethical application are the words to use here.
By following the above steps you’ll have established a sound foundation on which to build your website and SEO on.
If your site is already established you’ll need to do an honest and objective evaluation of it for efficiency. Have several people give the site the once over. Look for spelling and grammar errors. Is the site easy to navigate? Is there a good balance of content? Are all areas tagged properly such as pics, videos, graphics? Your titles and metadata must include relevant keyword data. Do not underestimate this advice. It’s the nuts and bolts of what your site’s success will be founded on.
Local SEO is of great value here. Far too many webmasters goof up on this part. They think that just using some keywords is going to do the trick when there is far more to it. Your NAPs, Name, Address, and Phone number should be clearly placed in strategic areas on every page and in any content like blog post copy. This way you’ll be killing more than two birds with one stone.
Your inbound and outbound links should be relevant. Don’t go for linking tricks. Get the best inbound links from authority sites and your outbound links should go to resources that are pertinent to what your surfers are looking for. Don’t just link to sites that are topical. Link to sites that provide answers, direct products, and services that surfers are looking for. When the surfers are happy they’ll post your links which will not only go to your site but to the sites you recommend. If you’ve affiliate codes in your outbound links, all the better.
Math is the language of SEO. It’s about the ratios of what you post on your sites that are essential to success. Don’t ever cram your keywords as in ‘keyword stuffing’ anywhere on your sites. It’s a good giveaway to Google that you’re trying to cheat the system. It can get you severely penalized. Instead, just pepper your keywords where relevant after you’ve applied your keywords to the basic areas of your site. What many webmasters don’t understand is that anything on your site can act as a keyword, especially proprietary and brand name. You might have someone comment on one of your blog posts about a new product no one has ever heard of. Then suddenly, out of the clear, blue sky, that product becomes popular. Search engines will have indexed the post on your blog with that product’s brand name and recognize that your site is the first or one of the first to mention the said product. Next thing you know, your statistics shoot through the roof. When that happens, move fast and bring that comment to the fore and expand on it.
So remember, it’s in the guts of your website that SEO benefits as well. Get to work!
If you need help, try a company like ISEOU.us. Their staff is knowledgeable regarding everything SEO. They’ll know how to get you started or do repair or a number of specialties that a pro-level SEO company like theirs can do.